Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 produced images of good quality during the review period. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 produces noise-free images at ISO 100-400, with limited noise and colour desaturation starting to appear at ISO 800. ISO 1600 exhibits quite visible noise, smearing of fine detail and colour desaturation, and the fastest setting of ISO 3200 is even noisier and best avoided altogether.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 dealt well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 5cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some unwanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 4.6x optical zoom to 9.2x, again with a slight loss in quality. The various Creative Effects and Color Modes allow you to easily add a twist to your images.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5's 4.6x lens has a fairly versatile focal range of 28-128mm, as demonstrated by the examples below.

28mm

128mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately you can't change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with limited purple and green fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Forced Off - Wide Angle (28mm)

Forced On - Wide Angle (28mm)

Forced Off - Telephoto (128mm)

Forced On - Telephoto (128mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Auto/Red-eye Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Forced On

Forced On (100% Crop)

Auto/Red-eye Reduction

Auto/Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5's maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds in the Starry Sky Mode scene mode (there are also 15 and 30 second options) and 8 seconds in the Night Scene mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 4 seconds at ISO 100. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 15 second setting the actual exposure takes 30 seconds.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

Image Stabilisation

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has an antishake mechanism which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with the stabilizer turned off, the second with it turned on. As you can see, with image stabilisation turned on, the images are sharper than when it's turned off.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Image Stabilisation Off (100% Crop)

Image Stabilisation On (100% Crop)

1/15th / 28mm

1/6th / 128mm

Intelligent Resolution

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5's Intelligent Resolution feature makes a standard image look like a higher resolution one by processing the contour areas, texture areas and smooth areas individually, or it extends the 4.6x zoom to 9.2x.

Off

On

i.Zoom Off

i.Zoom On

Colour Modes

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has 4 different color mode options.

Standard

Vivid

B&W

Sepia

Creative Controls

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has an extensive range of Creative Controls, denoted by an artist's palette in the shooting mode menu, with 14 different options on offer.

Expressive

Retro

High Key

Low Key

Sepia

Dynamic Monochrome

Impressive Art

High Dynamic

Cross Process

Toy Effect

Miniature Effect

Soft Focus

Star Filter

One Point Color

Panorama

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 allows you to take panoramic images very easily by 'sweeping' with the camera. The camera does all the processing and stitching. In addition 12 of the Creative Filter effects can also be applied to panorama shots in the Creative Panorama mode.